Post by pavel on May 13, 2016 2:13:44 GMT -6
A fierce tug of war over which state programs will be fully funded and which ones will get a short shrift went into the evening Thursday in the Louisiana House of Representatives' chamber in a battle that will spill over into Friday.
The stakes are high because there isn't enough money to fully fund popular measures like the college scholarship program TOPS and institutions that protect the poor like Louisiana's nine safety net hospitals. A $600 million projected deficit hangs over the 2016-17 budget that begins July 1.
"We all know I'm going to be here all day today and all day (Friday)," said Rep. Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee that crafted a first draft of the budget after receiving Gov. John Bel Edwards' recommendations, many of which were ignored.
Henry's committee's budget was criticized by a good government group that called it "faux;" Edwards, who called it "irresponsible;" and Senate President John Alario, who called it a "scheme."
Read more: www.shreveporttimes.com/story/news/2016/05/12/budget-battle-begins-house-gives-ag-separate-account/84273358/
The stakes are high because there isn't enough money to fully fund popular measures like the college scholarship program TOPS and institutions that protect the poor like Louisiana's nine safety net hospitals. A $600 million projected deficit hangs over the 2016-17 budget that begins July 1.
"We all know I'm going to be here all day today and all day (Friday)," said Rep. Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee that crafted a first draft of the budget after receiving Gov. John Bel Edwards' recommendations, many of which were ignored.
Henry's committee's budget was criticized by a good government group that called it "faux;" Edwards, who called it "irresponsible;" and Senate President John Alario, who called it a "scheme."
Read more: www.shreveporttimes.com/story/news/2016/05/12/budget-battle-begins-house-gives-ag-separate-account/84273358/